William & Mary Rally Falls Just Short vs. Towson

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 6, 2012) - The William and Mary lacrosse team outscored Towson, 5-1, in the second half but was edged by the Tigers, 8-7, on Friday evening at Martin Family Stadium atAlbert-Daly Field.

Although W&M (2-10, 0-2) trailed TU (8-3, 2-0), 7-2, at halftime, the Tribe charged back in the second half and held the Tigers to just one goal on six shots in the final 30 minutes. After narrowing the margin to just one, 8-7, following a goal by freshman Kaleigh Noon with 4:04 remaining, W&M had a pair of possessions in the final minutes but was unable tie the score.

Junior Kyrstin Mackrides equaled a career high with four goals, while Noon, sophomore Katie Stillwell and freshman Ellen Shaffrey also found the back of the cage.

Senior Sarah Mulvey was outstanding on the defensive side and totaled a career-best six ground balls with a pair of caused turnovers. In addition to allowing just eight goals, freshman Lucy Ferguson totaled a game-high 11 saves – nine of which came in the first half.

It was a defensive game early, as the teams combined to score just three goals for much of the initial portion of the first half. Towson tallied the first two goals, while Mackrides put W&M on the scoreboard with a goal at the 16:32 mark.

However, the Tigers outscored W&M, 5-1, during the remainder of the opening stanza. Shaffrey provided the Tribe's lone goal during the stretch when she found the back of the cage off an assist from Noon with 1:01 showing.

W&M struck first in the second half when Stillwell scored on an 8-meter opportunity with 22:05 remaining. Although Towson answered with a goal by Ashley Waldron less than a minute later, W&M held TU scoreless during the remainder of the contest.

Mackrides provided three of the Tribe's final four scores, registering an unassisted goal at 20:21 and free position scores at 15:23 and 4:59. Shortly after Mackrides' final goal, Noon added one of her own at 4:04 to narrow the margin to 8-7.

Although W&M won the ensuing draw, Towson gained possession with a turnover. TheTribe had another opportunity with about a minute remaining when sophomore Jenna Dougherty took a charge by Rhiannon Coogle, but Towson forced anotherturnover and was able to run out the clock.

W&M held a 20-17 advantage in ground balls, but Towson won 11 of the 17 draws and outshot the Tribe, 26-19.

Ashleigh Rohrback led Towson with a team-high four points on two goals and two assists.

The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Delaware on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A strong first half lifted Towson University to an 8-7 win at William & Mary on Friday night. The Tigers (8-3, 2-0 CAA) won their second straight contest behind two goals and two assists from sophomore attacker Ashleigh Rohrback.

"I thought we had a strong productive first half tonight," said Towson Coach Sonia LaMonica. "We struggled to maintain the momentum in the second half but we got the win and that's important."

The Tigers opened up a 2-0 lead in the game. Junior attacker Olivia Turner opened the scoring at 21:22 off a pass from Rohrback. Rohrback scored her first goal of the game at 18:35 as sophomore attacker Andi Raymond had the assist.

The Tribe (2-10, 0-2 CAA) got on the scoreboard at 16:32 as Kyrstin Mackrides scored an unassisted goal.

Towson scored four straight goals to take a 6-1 lead with 12:13 to play in the first half. Rohrback scored her second of the game at 15:43 and just 18 seconds later, junior midfielder Kelly Custer scored off an assist from Rohrback. The Tigers added to their lead 11 seconds later as Raymond scored off an assist from Custer. Towson capped its scoring run at 12:13 when senior attacker Sarah Appelt scored an unassisted tally.